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Culturing the Thorny Oyster? How about Keeping it Alive? 7/18/04 Hi, great site. I read everything you had about the thorny oyster, and have been searching the internet with only limited success. <there is not much info known/published on them for aquarium use... they are extremely difficult to keep alive and most responsible aquarists leave them in the ocean, or at least don't buy them> I have become a great fan of the thorny oyster and have decided I would like to have a crack at spawning and/or culturing the animal. <keeping them alive for even a year would be a great feat in itself. Most hang in for some months (a few over 6 months) before finally succumbing to attrition/starvation> I was hoping to find a source of spat or small oyster seed and/or instructions on how to induce spawning. <do look into the fisheries data (use university libraries/databases for this) on Tridacnid clams and other better studies bivalves. There is much info there to be assimilated I'm sure. Gerry Heslinga is a pioneer here and did some great papers on the sub-family Tridacnidae. Temperature, salinity shock were used at times... also serotonin infections as well as other hormonal treatments. Some bivalves will simply spawn just by the sensation of an egg in the water (sacrificing a ripe specimen for eggs top disburse). This all presumes that you can even rear your oysters to be sexually ripe/ready, and frankly... no-one can clearly say what it is that they eat in captivity or how to provide it. Bottled phytoplankton is unlikely to be a solely adequate staple> I have three oysters from local fish stores. I have read everything I can find on Husbandry of the Giant Clam, and a bit on Cultivating popular eating oysters. Can you direct me to a source of oyster spat/seed for the Thorny Oyster, and/or groups doing oyster raising locally in the US. Thanks, Kevin Meade <I share your admiration for this animals... but as my third query of the hour from a person that bought an animal that they do not know how to keep (what they even eat or if they can provide it), you have honestly bummed me out mate. No hard feelings. but please do consider the seriousness of the matter. If you are the one man that knows how to feed and keep Thorny Oysters in captivity for a full lifespan and not just a few weeks/months from purchase, then you need to do the industry and science a favor by telling us how (with all due respect here, sincerely). If not, I assure you that yours will be dead inside of 12 months. I have no wisdom to share other than above here. Anthony> |
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